152 Military Preparedness 



they were to do in war which they hard not done in 

 peace, save actually receive the enemy's fire. 



Contrast this with the army. The material in the 

 army is exactly as good as that in the navy, and 

 in the lower ranks the excellence is as great. In no 

 service, ashore or afloat, in the world could better 

 men of their grade be found than the lieutenants, 

 and indeed the captains, of the infantry and dis 

 mounted cavalry at Santiago. But in the army the 

 staff bureaus are permanent positions, instead of 

 being held, as of course they should be, by officers 

 detailed from the line, with the needs of the line 

 and experiences of actual service fresh in their 

 minds. 



The artillery had for thirty-five years had no field- 

 practice that was in the slightest degree adequate 

 to its needs, or that compared in any way with the 

 practice received by the different companies and 

 troops of the infantry and cavalry. The bureaus in 

 Washington were absolutely enmeshed in red tape, 

 and were held for the most part by elderly men, of 

 fine records in the past, who were no longer fit to 

 break through routine and to show the extraordinary 

 energy, business capacity, initiative, and willingness 

 to accept responsibility which were needed. Finally, 

 the higher officers had been absolutely denied that 

 chance to practice their profession to which the 

 higher officers of the navy had long been accustomed. 



